Do NOT let your players get high before the game. It should go without saying that you, the GM, should not get high before the game either.

Don't stuff dice up your nose. A d30 is a bitch to get out of a nostril.

Quote from: everloss;677370Do NOT let your players get high before the game. It should go without saying that you, the GM, should not get high before the game either.

I got high before GMing once.

I second that advice.

Quote from: Ratman_tf;677376Don't stuff dice up your nose. A d30 is a bitch to get out of a nostril.

How did you even do it?

Quote from: Ratman_tf;677376A d30 is a bitch to get out of a nostril.

*pfft* Quitter.

Quote from: Orpheo;672864Prep less, play more.

Nice maps Orpheo

Quote from: everloss;677370Do NOT let your players get high before the game. It should go without saying that you, the GM, should not get high before the game either.

On the other hand, a couple of beers, not enough to impair me, but enough to get me a bit looser, makes me more fun to play with, both as a player and a GM.

I get a lot more into the acting part when I'm loose.

Quote from: Emperor Norton;677459On the other hand, a couple of beers, not enough to impair me, but enough to get me a bit looser, makes me more fun to play with, both as a player and a GM.

I get a lot more into the acting part when I'm loose.

Beer/wine intake needs to be metered by the clock, though.  Closer to bed time makes it more and more of a no-no.  A single sleepy player can cause the whole table to feel fatigued.

Along these lines, if you have a smoker at the table, keep breaks in mind.  Party splits are good opportunities,  or you may just want to put a break before any upcoming segment you know the smoker doesn't like.  Often times their unrest/need to mood-adjust will result in 'cranky' choices in character.

Note, too, that this advice was more applicable in the last decade than it will be in the next one...

Definitely. Its important to keep the alcohol down to an amount that no one forgets what they are doing. (Or gets sleepy, though honestly, I don't get tired when drunk. I get hyper, so its more of a "am I still playing in a coherent manner" for me).

When I am playing with my oldest friends the rhythm of the game kinda revolves around their smoke breaks. Kinda nice actually as I use the to time think and plan and they do the same without me right I front of them, so we often surprise each other. They drink as well but it's always beer and we always eat before hand. Though by the third of fourth hour of play I can see the effect of alcohol in their play as the get much more into it.

As to the don't get high thing, its kinda funny but when I started gaming with these guys all of 10 years ago that was really just part of gaming. We just smoked as we played, I don't remember too much but I doubt if it helped the quality of gaming. We were all done with that by a year after high school though. Hell now I am a tee totaler.

Quote from: Emperor Norton;677598Definitely. Its important to keep the alcohol down to an amount that no one forgets what they are doing. (Or gets sleepy, though honestly, I don't get tired when drunk. I get hyper, so its more of a "am I still playing in a coherent manner" for me).

Yeah.  This has been discussed, but we drink wine and mead during our sessions....and dinner, and dessert, and more wine...and I sustain long term groups.

Well, us Poles don't really worry about alcohol during RPGs, but I have a ban on vodka - if we are to drink, we can do that without funny dice. Everything else goes, especially if it's in the mood - so wine and ale for fantasy gaming, mead and wine for XVI/XVII century Polish setting, whisky and bourbon for Wild West etc etc.

Quote from: Arkansan;677624When I am playing with my oldest friends the rhythm of the game kinda revolves around their smoke breaks. Kinda nice actually as I use the to time think and plan and they do the same without me right I front of them, so we often surprise each other. They drink as well but it's always beer and we always eat before hand. Though by the third of fourth hour of play I can see the effect of alcohol in their play as the get much more into it.

As to the don't get high thing, its kinda funny but when I started gaming with these guys all of 10 years ago that was really just part of gaming. We just smoked as we played, I don't remember too much but I doubt if it helped the quality of gaming. We were all done with that by a year after high school though. Hell now I am a tee totaler.

I'd tell you why I never dare to get high again before gaming, but I think all of you'd just turn your eyes away with shame from me from then on .

Let's just say not only I was GMing, I was the only guy high, and I came up with the entire scenario while high, and we were playing post - apocalyptic gaming.

I generally stick to beer or nursing bourbon.

And with beer I would get bloated before I got actually drunk. (And drinking bourbon fast is a waste of good bourbon)

Quote from: Emperor Norton;677647I generally stick to beer or nursing bourbon.

And with beer I would get bloated before I got actually drunk. (And drinking bourbon fast is a waste of good bourbon)

Yeah, it's that 'feeling full' thing that typically contributes to the sleepiness.  If you were up and around, shooting pool, making out with some chick you just met, etc, it would be easier to stay awake...  Ah, the memories.

However, you'll pry caffeine from gamer's cold, dead hands first.

Because of that I have the same policy to that as for any situation. Drugs are allowed, if you can handle it -- and your peers are the judges of that, not you. You'll always have that guy who can't even handle his caffeine and sugar, let alone anything else (such as O2, or testosterone rage, or self-pitying gloom...). That guy needs an intervention, not a babysitter or a night out.

Basically the rule of consideration applies, also known as "don't be a dick."

Apparently, Uruguayans drink more per capita than anyone else in the world. But, being geeks, a significant number of my gamers don't drink alcohol.

When I lived in North America I didn't allow booze at my games, because things tended to degenerate fast; but Uruguayans (mostly) have a different attitude toward drinking and perhaps a bigger genetic tolerance to it, so I've had no such problems here, and allow it for those who like it.

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